O World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international organization located in Geneva (Switzerland), responsible for organizing annual meetings with the participation and collaboration of the largest and leading companies in the world. The meetings are mostly held in the Swiss city of Davos and, as a result, they are also known as Davos Forum. It was created in 1971 under the name European Management Forum.
According to the organizers themselves, the main objective of the World Economic Forum is “to improve the situation of the world”, through actions taken and executed by world leaders, great economists, investors and entrepreneurs. The members of the FEM advocate the irreversibility of globalization, so that it is necessary to study and understand their impacts on the world, in order to minimize the negative effects and enhance their points positive.
The Davos Forum has been used several times as a neutral platform for establishing diplomatic relations and carrying out pacts and agreements. One of the most remarkable events was the meeting between Nelson Mandela and the then president of South Africa and enemy Frederik Willem de Klerk.
Nelson Mandela and Frederik Klerk at the 1992 World Economic Forum¹
However, since the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century, criticism of the WEF has increased significantly by activists and militants of left-wing and anti-globalization movements. Opposition against the Davos Forum increased after the I World Social Forum, in 2001, in the city of Porto Alegre.
Among the main criticisms are the accusations that the World Economic Forum, by considering globalization as irreversible and encouraging economic progress, contributes for the expansion of misery and poverty in the world, as well as for the aggression to the environment, since the market economy and Globalization would be responsible for such questions.
In addition to the realization of the World Social Forum, many protests marked the realization of the WEF. In 2003, the wave of protests even broke a McDonalds cafeteria window, which caused the organizers to reinforce the security of the meeting and establish a large perimeter of protection and isolation. High security spending is also the target of deep criticism.
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¹Image credit: World Economic Forum
By Rodolfo Alves Pena
Graduated in Geography
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/geografia/forum-economico-mundial.htm
